Egypt says 3,000-year-old gold bracelet missing from museum

A bracelet that disappeared from the restoration laboratory at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir is shown. (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities / Facebook)

Cairo, Egypt -- A 3,000-year-old gold bracelet has gone missing from a restoration laboratory of Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, the country’s antiquities ministry said.

The bracelet, described as a golden band adorned with “spherical lapis lazuli beads”, dates to the reign of Amenemope, a pharaoh of Egypt’s 21st Dynasty (1070–945 BC).

The ministry, in its statement issued late Tuesday, did not specify when the piece was last seen.

Egyptian media outlets said the loss was detected in recent days during an inventory check, though this could not be confirmed.

An internal probe has been opened, and antiquities units across all Egyptian airports, seaports and land border crossings nationwide have been alerted, the ministry said.

The case was not announced immediately to allow investigations to proceed, and a full inventory of the lab’s contents was underway, it added.

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square houses more than 170,000 artefacts, including the famed gold funerary mask of King Amenemope.

The disappearance comes just weeks before the scheduled November 1 inauguration of the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum.

One of the museum’s most iconic collections -- the treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb -- is being prepared for transfer ahead of the opening, which is being positioned as a major cultural milestone under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government.

In 2021, Egypt staged a high-profile parade transferring 22 royal mummies, including Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Old Cairo -- part of a broader effort to boost Egypt’s museum infrastructure and tourism appeal.